Looking back through the Unique Cars classifieds
HSV Coupe 4 – Advertised November 2007
Okay, here’s the deal.: You pay $70k in 2007 for a super-scarce Coupe 4 showing 24,000 klicks. You park it for 15 years and pop out the other side with a car that will have cost a grand a year to insure and maintain but within a decade and a half doubled in value. Who would say no to that? The catch was that Coupe 4s suffered some design compromises and can prove hard to sell. Scarcity due to a build total of 132 isn’t (strangely) the problem,. Early in 2023 when we checked the classifieds there were four Coupe 4s, most in excellent condition, and all sensibly priced still looking for homes.
Then: $70,000. Now: $125,000-140,000
DeSoto Firesweep 1959 – Advertised April 1997
A year after this magnificent device was built the DeSoto brand would be gone, along with 1950s design decadence. Those fins and massive bumpers served no practical purpose but they did ensure Suburban Mr or Mrs James could feel superior to people driving Fords or ’57 Chevs. Fireflite sedans were listed locally at £3275 – the same price as a suburban house – and were hard to find even when new. Two-door Desotos like the Firesweep were super rare and this one likely arrived in the 1980s. Still looks like a serious bargain in a depressed market and worth considerably more now.
Then: $11,000. Now: $40,000-45,000
Toyota Supra Aerotop – Advertised November 2006
Why have SZ versions of the Supra with lift-out Aerotop roof panels suddenly gone feral in the market for second-hand performance cars? As you might tell from the money being asked in 2006, these Supras weren’t always considered prime stock, so auction buyers in Japan wouldn’t give open-top cars a sideways glance as they stampeded to bid on the best RZ twin-turbos. Times change and recent years see Aerotops enjoying strong demand. They are scarce and few reach the market; the ones that do are mostly destined for North America at prices already above US$60,000.
Then: $20,995. Now: $100,000-120,000
Reader’s One That Got Away:
1963 Mercury Marauder
Cristian Rodriguez
A house near my old workplace in Melbourne had a black ’63 Mercury Marauder permanently parked in its carport. I would detour on a daily basis to get a glance at the car which was still wearing its original black and gold Californian registration plates! It eventually disappeared but I still think about that rare car.
From Unique Cars #479, June 2023